CHRONOLOGY
1949 Born County Durham, England
1974 Graduated from Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham
1976 First toured and photographed the west of Ireland
1978-98 Lecturer at Blackpool College of Art & West Surrey College of Art
1980-present Completed over 30 commissions in Austria, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
Each concluded in the form of exhibition and/or publication
1981 Senior Research Fellow – Sheffield School of Art
1986 First book published; Mist Mountain Water Wind
1991 Moved to Cardiff, Wales from Stockport, England
1993 BBC Wales Arts Award in Visual Arts
1996 Senior Research Fellow - University of Wales Institute Cardiff
2001 Moved to Liverpool, England
2008 Shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize
2001 Began working in color
Presently Continues photographing and printing while also actively advocating for the preservation of public green space in Liverpool and beyond.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Les terrils de John Davies | Centre Historique Minier, Lewarde, France
2017-18 The British Landscape | L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York
2016 Visions of La Mancha – Landscape and Wetlands | Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo, Spain
Shadow – terrils d’europe du nord | Labanque, Béthune, France
2013 France England | Les Rencontres d’Arles, France
Highways | Museum of London, UK
Hidden River | City of Clermont-Ferrand, France
2010 L’Anse de Paulillies and Fuji City, Japan | Galerie Vu, Paris, France
2009 House | Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, UK
2008 Kajobrazy Miejskie / Urban Landscapes | Galeria Fotografii pf, Poznan, Poland
European Eyes on Japan | Tokyo, Japan
2006 The British Landscape | Photo España, Madrid, Spain
2003 Metropolis: Manchester | Manchester Art Gallery & Urbis, Manchester, UK
2002 Metropoli (London) | Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London, UK
Seine Valley | Gallery Photo, Rouen, France
2001 L’Anse de Paulilles | Hotel Scribe, Paris, France
1999 Sguardi Gardesani | Museo Civico Riva del Garda, Italy
1997 Through Fire & Water: the River Taff | National Museum Cardiff, Wales, UK
1996 The River and the City - München | Barbara Gross Gallerie, Munich, Germany
The River and the City – Florence | Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London, UK
1994 Fos-Sur-Mer and the Industrial Zone | Commune Fos-sur-Mer, France
1992 Vigovisions | IV Foto Bienal, Vigo, Spain
1991 Italian Landscapes | Gualtieri Library, Reggio Emilia, Italy
1987 A Green and Pleasant Land | The Photographers’ Gallery, London, UK
1985 On the Edge of White Peak | Buxton Museum, UK
1984 The Valleys Project | Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales, UK
1983 Durham Coalfield | Side Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
1982 Above and Beyond | Untitled Gallery, Sheffield, UK
1977 John Davies – Photographs | Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Coal + Ice: Inspiring Climate Action through Art and Ideas | Asia Society, New York, NY
Selection of Cirrus Aviaticus | Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, UK
2023 This is Britain: Photographs from the 1970s and 1980s | National Gallery, Washington, DC, USA
2022 Facing Britain, British Documentary Photography since the 1960s | Museum of Photography, Krakow, Poland
Facing Britain, British Documentary Photography since the 1960s | Mönchehaus Museum Goslar, Goslar, Germany
Radical Landscapes | Tate Liverpool, UK
COAL+ ICE, | Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
2021 The Sheffield Project: Photographs of a Changing City | Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, UK
Lancashire Photography Festival | Outdoor exhibition in Preston Square, Lancashire, UK
2019 Tabitha Jussa & John Davies – Can’t See the Wood for the Trees | Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool, UK
We Love Photography! 20 Years of Art Collection Deutsche Börse | Deutsche Börse AG, The Cube, Eschborn, Germany
2018 Coal + Ice | Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, San Francisco, CA
About the North: Imagined Dialogues | Side Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Great Exhibition of the North | Baltic Centre of Art, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
PGH Photo Fair | Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
The Photography Show (AIPAD) | Pier 94, New York, NY
Classic Photographs Los Angeles (CPLA) | Bergamot Station, Los Angeles, CA
2017-18 Into The Woods: Trees in Photography | V & A Museum, London, UK
French Landscapes – A Photographic Experience (1984-2017) | Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France
A Green and Pleasant Land – British Landscape and the Imagination: 1970s to Now | Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK
2015 For Ever Amber | Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
2013-14 All That Is Solid Melts Into Air | (curated by Jeremy Deller) Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, Warwick, UK
Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham, UK
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
2013 Landmarks: The Fields of Photography | Somerset House, London, UK
2010 Facts of Life: British Documentary Photography, 1974-1997 | National Museum in Krakow, Poland
2007 Atlante Italiano 007 Rischio Paesaggio | MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy
How We Are – Photographing Britain | Tate Britain, London, UK
2006 Making History: Art and Documentary in Britain from 1929 to Now | Tate Liverpool, UK
A Tale of Two Cities | National Museum of Film, Photography and Television, Bradford, UK
Atlante Italiano 007 Rischio Paesaggio | MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Art, Rome, Italy
Monuments & Paysages | L'Agence Régionale du Patrimoine de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.
Trans Emilia | Fotomuseum, Winterthur, Switzerland
2005 Land of Promise: Land van Belofte | Noorderlicht Festival, Groningen, The Netherlands
2004 Shrinking Cities | KW – Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2002 Reviving Monuments | Suomenlinna Fortress, Finland
2001 Questions of Landscape | Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
2000 Luoghi come Paesaggio | Uffizi Museum, Florence, Italy
Le Temps Vite | Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1999 Under Construction | Milwaukee Art Museum, WI, USA
Milano Senzaconfini | Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Spazio Oberdan, Milan
1997 La Photographie Contemporaine en France | Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris France
1997 Venezia Marghera: Photography and Tranformation | Comune di Venezia, Italy
1996 Une Aventure Contemporaine 1955-1995 | Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
1995 Power to Change | RIBA Architectural Centre, London, UK
National Museum, Cardiff, Wales, UK
1994 La Nievre Photographie | Commune Neivre, France
1993 Iron River | Bilbao Metropolitan Museum, Spain
1992 Vigovisions | IV Fotobienal, Vigo, Spain
1991 British Photography from the Thatcher Years | Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
1989 Through the Looking Glass | Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK
Ausbeute | Ruhrlandmuseum, Essen, Germany
Autoroute A26, Calais – Reims (two person with Michel Kempf) | Mission Photographique Transmanche, Douchy, France
1984 Britain in 1984 | The Photographers’ Gallery, London, UK
National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford, UK
Creation: Modern Art and Nature | National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1983 Personal Views | Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MONOGRAPHS
2019 Davies, John, 81-19. London: GOST Books
2016 Davies, John, Shadow: Slag Heaps of Northern Europe. Paris, France: Editions Loco
2014 Davies, John, Turning Green to Brown. Self published with Blurb
2013 Davies, John, Hidden River. Paris, France: Editions Loco
2008 Davies, John, Urban Landscapes / Krajobrazy Miejskie. Poznan, Poland: Galeria Fotografii pf
2006 Davies, John, The British Landscape. London, UK: Chris Boot Ltd.
2002 Davies, John, Seine Valley (exhibition catalog) Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France: Le Point du Jour
2001 Davies, John, Littoral / Le Retour de la Nature. Trézélan: Les éditions Filigranes
2000 Davies, John, Temps et Paysage. Saint-Benoît-du-Sault: Les editions Tarabuste
1997 Davies, John, Through Fire and Water: River Taff. Cardiff: National Museum and Galleries of Wales
1993 Davies, John, Skylines. Valencia: Valencia University
Davies, John, Cross Currents. Manchester: Cornerhouse
1991 Davies, John, Phase 11. London: The Photographer’s Gallery Italian Landscapes (exhibition catalog). Regio Emilia: Linea di Confine della Provincia di Reggio Emilia
1989 Davies, John, Autoroute A 26. Calais – Reims. Nord-Pas-de-Calais: Centre Regionale de la Photographie
1987 Davies, John, A Green and Pleasant Land. Manchester: Cornerhouse
1986 Davies, John, Mist Mountain Water Wind. London: Traveling Light
OTHER RECENT PUBLICATIONS
2021 Harrison, Graham and Goertz, Ralph, Facing Britain: British Documentary Photography since the 1960s. Walther König, Köln
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Arts Council of England, UK
British Council: Athens, Leipzig, London
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Centre Historique Minier, Lewarde, France
City of Clermont-Ferrand, France
Commune Fos-sur-Mer, France
Conservatoirs du Littoral, Paris, France
Deutsche Börse Art Collection, Frankfurt
Encontros de Fotografia, Coimbra, Portugal
FNAC (Fonds National d’Art Contemporain), Paris, France
Granit-CAC, Belfort, France
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy
Ministère de L' Environnement, Paris, France
Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium
Museo Civico Riva del Garda, Italy
Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo, Spain
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Museum voor Fotografie, Antwerp, Belgium
National Library of Wales, UK
National Gallery, Washington, DC
National Museum of Photography, Film & Television /
National Media Museum, Bradford, UK
National Museum and Galleries of Wales, UK
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
Ruhrlandmuseum, Essen, Germany
Rylands Library, Manchester, UK
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Side Gallery, Newcastle, UK
V & A Museum, London, UK